Best Champagne under $40

WINE TALK
41

Piper Heidsieck and Duval Leroy. Both can be found at my local store from time to time at under $30, and that’s when I load up.

42

For me:

Hebrart BdB
Herbrart Brut
Bereche
Falmet Brut

43

Bereche is great. Have trouble finding it below $40 (still buy it, though).

-Al

44

+1

45

lots of good options so far. Here are a few more:

Andre Clouet Brut Grande Reserve
Pierre Paillard Les Parcelles

46

I also agree with Laherte Freres, Hebrart and Charles Heidsieck.

Another favourite is NV Pierre Moncuit Cuvee Hugues de Coulmet Blanc de Blancs Brut.

47

I don’t mind a little higher dosage if the wine is well balanced. I’ve participated in a few blind dosage trials and was certain going into them that I would prefer low or no-dosage. I was wrong! I tended to prefer 6-8 g/l and these often presented drier (weird?) than the 2-4 g/l wines. The non-dose are easy to spot but, contrary to my beliefs, are not usually “better,” at least to me. YMMV

48

I’m just comparing to the rest of vilmart’s range. The grande reserve has the highest dosage of their wines.

49

Looks to me like Hebrart is in the lead with 6 votes. Delamotte is at 4 votes. Haven’t counted the rest.

50

Gotcha, but I don’t think Vilmart makes another contender in the sub-$40 range and I think, compared to the others mentioned up thread, it should be seriously considered at that price point. I’d definitely put it up against the Hebrart and Delamotte wines in this category (or any others). It may not be everyone’s favorite, but for some I’m confident it would be.

51

For me it is Michel Arnould “La Grande Cuvée” Brut Champagne, it drinks way above it’s price point and has some hints of Krug GC

52

I hope it doesn’t upset anyone to speculate about this, but I do wonder if this category (unlike the more expensive categories, which seem to be strong and strengthening on their price points) might see some buying opportunities at significant discounts, due to how much Champagne in this price range didn’t sell in restaurants and at events in 2020.

I don’t mean that the category will see some across the board lowering of prices, but it feels like the alert buyer might find some clearance deals this winter, maybe after the new year starts, and if your goal is to load up a moderately priced “house Champagne,” that might be the best plan for how to do it.

53

NV Christophe Mignon Pur Meunier

54

There are going to be some blowouts in this category assuming there isn’t a tariff issue (which there may be).

55

If the Vilmart Grand Cellier were in the $40 bracket, it would be a serious contender and arguably walk away with the trophy, but the Grand Reserve, albeit a good wine, is not really ‘better’ than many of the wines mentioned in the thread. Also, an interesting thing with Champagne is that there are so many styles that it is hard to align tastes with a large pool of opinions. Frankly, I’m surprised at the mention of Piper-Heidsieck as a contender, as I had last week and thought it was one of the worst Champagnes I had, just too green and light for my taste. But there you have it: some other folks love it. Hard to find a clear, singular winner. That said, I haven’t tasted the Cuvee St-Anne yet, and I know it is a forum darling, hopefully, I’ll taste it soon (on order).

56

Thanks! I didn’t realise we had such popular wines. Look like, maybe…

[winner.gif]

57

Laherte for me, although for a couple bucks more I opt for more of the Rose de Meunier

58

I do like the standard Delamotte as a value champagne- it is often at sale down to around 30$ here

59

At under $40/btl retail, JL Vergnon makes a couple of worthwhile BdB offerings in both the brut ‘Conversation’ and the brut nature ‘Murmure’ bottlings that would probably secure my vote.

60

Votes for Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve, Hebrart, Andre Clouet GR and Paillard Les Parcelles from me.